A Stomach For A Heart
by OninTells
Summary: A sequel to "The Accidental Model". An old saying that a way to man's heart is through his stomach and now Levy joins a cooking class and believes that she is a terrible cook. Gajeel starts to catch on and gives Levy a chance to prove herself. Will Levy be able to learn how to cook? Will she satisfy Gajeel's stomach?
1. A New Class

"**A Stomach For A Heart"**

**A/N- The Sequel to "The Accidental Model". Short Story.**

**Credit goes to Hiro Mashima for his characters.**

Chapter One: A New Class

"Blumenblatt!"

Erza casted as her swords swung in every direction of a cooking studio in Magnolia. Her class mates screamed as bits of vegetables came flying across the room as they watched the poor counter top table get shredded along with it. There was a small shriek as the pointed edge of a turnip came launching towards Lucy's head and impaling itself against the wall besides her.

"E-E-Erza-chan! Please calm down!" Lucy shrieked.

"Seriously, Erza!" Evergreen yelled, "they are just vegetables! Not dark guild mages!"

"Hoh?" Erza glared at her.

Evergreen gulped as she shook from her deathly glare.

"I will cut these vegetables down until the possibility of someone choking is eliminated!" she explained, "Heaven's Wheel!"

The cooking studio shook as Erza's sword shone bright as it quickly revolved around her sending more vegetables flying across the studio.

"M-M-Miss Erza!" The instructor pleaded, "Please stop! The vegetables are cut small enough!"

The swords have stopped as they flashed off in the magical world of Erza's wardrobe, "Certainly" she confirmed, "I do apologize for the mess though."

The instructor groaned and looked around his studio that was now littered with vegetable scraps and bits of wood from Erza's counter top.

Levy groaned as she pushed off the vegetables scraps that buried her underneath and rubbed her eyes off of bits of veggie mush.

"Erza-chan?" Levy called, "You know, you could've mashed the vegetables as a cleaner alternative and much more effective way to reduce the possibility of choking if that what you were worried about."

"Levy-san…" Juvia groaned next to her as she too was also buried in the pile of vegetable scraps. Levy grabbed her hand and helped pull her out of her green tomb.

Erza turned a shade of pink at Levy's statement, "Now that you mention it… mashing them might've been a better alternative."

"Levy!" Evergreen shouted, "Why didn't you say something earlier!"

"Well I couldn't!" she spat back ,"I was buried under a pile of vegetable scraps!"

"Levy-chan!" Lucy gasped, "please don't be angry."

"Sorry Lucy… I didn't mean to yell." She muttered quietly.

"Tch," Evergreen huffed, "Where's the fire, shortcake? I think a bit of Gajeel is rubbing off on you."

"Don't push it Evegreen!" Lucy pleaded.

"What are you talking about?" she smiled, "It was a compliment. She's finally growing a spine."

"Thank you, I guess?" Levy replied.

"Class!" The instructor yelled as everyone's attention turned towards him, "due to this unplanned event, all of you will be cleaning my studio back to the way it was. We will continue lecture next time and I'm sending a bill to Fairy Tail for repairs on Erza's counter top."

They groaned in defeated and spent most of the remaining class cleaning up after the mess and placing vegetable in bin that makes compost out of unused food scraps. After the long tedious clean up, Levy said her goodbyes to her classmates as she was going back to her apartment to clean up vegetable mush stuck on her skin while the rest headed back to the guild.

"Ugh" Levy groaned as she tried to brush away potato mush off her arms, "How did I get myself involved in a cooking class again?"

"_You know what they say that a way to man's heart is through his stomach." Said Lucy_

"Oh right…Lucy" Levy remembered, "If only what I read, I can perform back."

She faced palmed her forehead, "Who am I kidding? I'm a terrible cook! I can't just feed Gajeel iron all day!"

"Why not?" a gruff voice said.

Levy gasped and turned around to see Gajeel smirking down at her with his arms crossed. He leaned down and raised a brow at her.

"Gajeel!" she gasped.

"Gihi, afternoon shorty!" he smirked, "so what's this about not feeding me iron all day? You know, I happen to like your iron."

"I know…It's just that well…don't you like eating normal food too?" she asked.

"Of course I do." He replied, "I may be part dragon, but I am mostly human still."

"Well, good."

"Is that why you're covered in mush?" he asked, "Is that a lettuce in your hair? Do you swim around in your food too?"

"No!" she yelled as she punched his arm, "I was cooking something for you all right!"

"Did the food attack you while you are cooking?" he teased.

"What? No!" Levy fumed, "It's just…well-that I…the food."

"Oh, I get it." He interrupted, "You can't cook, is that it shrimp?"

"N-n-NO!" she denied, "I can cook. What kind of girlfriend would I be if I couldn't. Haha—ha…"

"I didn't say you'd be a bad girlfriend if you can't cook," he explained, "I know lots of women that can't cook. So don't deny that you can't and lie to me, shrimp."

"Hmph" she huffed, "I'm going to make you eat those words, Gajeel!"

"I'm already eating your solid script iron."

"Touche" she added, "but I will prove to you that I can cook. And it will the best thing that you have ever eaten."

"Oh?" he smirked. "Fine."

"Fine."

Gajeel leaned down and grabbed her chin as he pulled her for a quick kiss.

"I have a mission tomorrow and I'll be back the next day. So you have two days to prepare and impress me with this kick ass cooking of yours that you're claiming."

"I don't need a day." She smirked, "Too bad about tomorrow but I guess I don't have a choice."

"Gihi yeah, how unfortunate." He smirked back and leaned forward again to steal another kiss from Levy's soft lips. "See you in two day."

Gajeel walked off to his apartment and gave a wave back to Levy as she watched him leave. When he was no longer in sight, Levy broke down in a fit of panic.

"Oh my gosh!" Levy gasped, "what did I just do?!"

**A/N: As promised, You don't have to read the first story to get this one.**

**REVISED on 11/11/14**


	2. Fried Shrimp

Chapter 2: Fried Shrimp

As Gajeel walked further down the outskirts of Magnolia, his mind was filled with curiosity about what Levy will have in store him. He shrugged it off when he was near his door and reached into his pockets for his keys.

"Lily! Guess, what!" Gajeel yelled across the living room as he entered his home.

Lily flew above him and landed on his shoulder waiting for the dragon slayer's news.

"What?" he asked.

"The shrimp is gonna cook something for me," he grinned, "said it was going to be the best damn thing I ate!"

"I didn't know Levy cooks." Lily said, "I guess it's a nice change for her since she mostly feed you iron with her magic."

"Ain't nothing wrong with her iron, but I have my doubts about the shrimp's cooking." Gajeel stated.

"You think she's lying about it?"

"Probably," he shrugged, "I don't take her for the kind of girl who spent a great deal of time in the kitchen."

"Hmm." Lily hummed, "I take it she doesn't know that you can cook."

"Gihi" he laughed, "That's the best part, she doesn't. Think this will be a good chance to get her back from what happened back at the art studio."

"Now, now Gajeel." Lily protested, "I strongly advice you not to do that."

"Eh?" he raised a brow, "Why the hell not?"

"Think about it…" Lily explained, "If you think Levy has never cooked in her life before, then why all of a sudden is she taking an interest in cooking now?"

"Tch," he huffed as he slumped towards the couch, "Beats me. She never took an interest in drawing either, but that didn't stop her from learning. Probably the same deal with this one."

"I don't think so." Lily shook his head, "But I'll let you figure this one out on your own."

Lily flew away and left Gajeel rolling his eyes towards his cat. He grumbled something about being a smart ass, but quickly shrugged it off as he packed some stuff to take for his mission. He thought back on Levy's cooking and grinned to himself as he thought of a plan for his little sweet revenge. That grin never left his face as it stayed like that as he slept. Lily shook his head more before cuddling next to the slayer. With a sigh they both fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>Levy had told Lucy about what happened that afternoon. They both knew that she wasn't ready to cook anything and they had only started taking cooking lessons. They only have gotten far into basic preparation into cooking but they have never done any actual cooking yet.<p>

"Why would you say something like that if you know you just started learning how to cook?" Lucy asked.

Levy groaned and palmed her forehead, "I don't know Lucy…I just wanted to impress him and I got caught up in the moment."

Lucy sighed heavily. They needed a quicker solution and went to the guild to talk to Mirajane. As they explained Levy's problem, Mira gladly accepted to help her and would dedicate the one day she has to prepare food for Gajeel. There was, unfortunately, one more problem to deal with.

"So…" Mira thought, "What are you planning on making for Gajeel?"

Levy turned red once more as the thought hit her hard. "That's a good question…" Levy sighed, "I don't know."

"Well..." Mira thought again, "Do you know what his favorite food is?"

"That's just it Mira-chan." Levy groaned in defeat, "Besides iron, I don't know what his favorite food is. It has to be normal food Mira. If I put iron in his food, then it's sort of cheating and it can't be something he normally eats at the guild."

"Gajeel does love my cooking." Mira smiled, "I'll help you in any way I can."

"Thank you Mira." Levy smiled, "By the way what's your secret?"

"Magic, of course." She giggled, "Perks, of being a mage. Magic is applicable to cooking."

"That's it, Levy!" Lucy shouted when an idea came to her, "You can use your magic to help you."

"I don't know Lucy…" Levy thought, "My Solid Script might be able to help me, but I don't know if runes work that way unless I am very specific about it. Since I hardly know anything about cooking, then that just adds on to my problem with using magic."

Mira cleared her throat as she went to grab a pot and an egg from her kitchen at the guild. She set them down in front of Levy by the bar stand.

"Let's try your Solid Script magic by boiling an egg," she explained, "all you need is water and heat, sound simple enough right?"

"I guess so." Levy said, "Let's try it."

"Okay, first add water to the pot."

Levy nodded her head and prepped her hands to cast her magic. "Solid Script: Water!"

The water filled the pot. "Good." Mira smiled, "now just add heat to boil the water."

"Okay." She giggled, "stand back! Solid Script: Fire!"

The fire blew off the pot from the stand and into the wall as it melted from the concentrated fire magic. Mira and Lucy gasped as the egg itself began to mix with the iron of the pot while the water turned into steam releasing an odor of melted iron and overcooked eggs.

"Well…" Mira gulped, "At least you now know how to put iron into his eggs for breakfast haha…ha."

"I can just imagine what Natsu could do with fire if he was cooking." Lucy shuddered.

"Ugh…" Levy sighed, "This is hopeless, I can't even use magic to help me out."

"Don't worry about it, we'll try again." Mira smiled as she grabbed another egg and a different pot.

"All right…" Levy took a breath, "Solid Script: Scald!"

The pot filled with steam and boiling water and saw the egg overcook itself. The whites of the egg began to seep out of the shell and bubble into huge a glob.

"Oh my gosh!" Levy cried, "It's alive!"

"No." Mira giggled, "Egg does that when it gets overcooked. Apparently your script magic is too concentrated and, in this case, very destructive in cooking."

"I'm so fried!" Levy cried.

"Fried?" Lucy thought, "Fried shrimp?"

"Excuse me?" Levy gasped.

"Good idea, Lucy!" Mira smiled, "I know he uses it to call you short and all, but I think using shrimp as your food might surprise him a little."

"I guess so." Levy said, "All right then! Shrimp it is!"

"Meet me here tomorrow and I'll make sure to have plenty of shrimp to practice cooking on."

"No magic?" Levy asked.

"No magic." Mira agreed, "we're cooking it the normal way and with love."

They said their goodbyes as they left the guild and went back home. Levy read any material about cooking shrimp and what it means to cook straight from the heart. She sighed, hoping she would be able to accomplish this and slept early for her training the next day.

Early the next day, Gajeel and Lily left their home and headed toward the guild only to meet by the lingering odor of Levy's attempt at making hard boiled eggs.

"Morning Gajeel, Morning Lily" Mira greeted.

"Damn, what the hell did you burn here?" he pinched his nose and made a sour face and Lily did the same.

"Breakfast is on the table and I'll sign you off for your mission today." Mira smiled.

"Whatever," he grumbled, "Did you bought a batch of bad eggs? 'Cause damn this place reeks."

"Don't worry about it." Mira glared.

Gajeel raised a brow at her and went to eat his breakfast when he caught an eye of a barrel full of shrimp in the corner of the kitchen.

"Yo, Mira" he called as he pointed towards the barrel, "What's with that?"

"It's a surprise for the guild." she lied, "I'm trying something new."

Gajeel simply looked at her with a confused face and shrugged it off to finish his breakfast. He left when he finished eating and caught sight of Levy and Lucy headed towards the guild. He caught Levy staring at him and made a shy smile as she waved a hand in front of her. He smirked and made his way to her to give her a quick peck on the lips.

"Better keep your promise, shrimp" He said.

"Good luck on your mission, Gajeel" Levy replied back.

Levy watched as the dragon slayer left them and and he turned his head to look at her one more time. She caught the sinister smirk on his face and dark fixated eyes on her that sent shivers down her spine. Gajeel simply laughed and waved his hands from behind.

"What was that about?" Lucy asked.

"Oh no..." Levy sighed, "I-I think he knows."


	3. The Powerful Cook

Chapter 3: The Powerful Cook

Levy rushed to the guild to see Mira, who smiled and waved at her, with Lucy following closely behind. She greeted her 'good mornings' and saw Levy's face flustered and worried.

"Levy?" Mira called, "Are you feeling all right?"

"I was fine before Gajeel came up to me." Levy answered, "I think he knows I was bluffing about the whole cooking thing"

"Oh?" Mira questioned, "How are you cerntain he knows?"

"He gave me this look." She replied as she tried to copy Gajeel's sinister glare towards Mira, "Obviously, he's planning something."

"Levy-chan." Lucy called, "So what if Gajeel knows your little secret. Does it matter?"

"Of course it does!" Levy cried, "Now, he's probably going to expect less from me. I am already short and weak, and I promised him that whatever I cook for him will the best thing that he has ever eaten!"

"Calm down, Levy!" Mira comforted, "This is Gajeel we're talking about. Since when does he take pity on someone?"

"Yeah, Levy." Lucy added, "Remember what happened in Tenrou?"

"You're right." Levy smiled, "Thanks, guys!"

Lucy and Mira giggled and went straight to business. Mira led Levy into her kitchen and pulled a barrel full of raw shrimps.

"Now Levy," Mira instructed, "First you will watch me how I cook shrimp and what goes good with it. Then it will be your turn to copy me. I will lead you in every step and you will also cook for the rest of your guildmates for today."

"I will?" Levy gulped, "Mira are you sure about this?"

"Of course I am." She smiled, "This will give you plenty of practice and Gajeel won't be back until tomorrow late in the afternoon."

"All right…" Levy sighed, "Shall we get started?"

* * *

><p>In the deep trenches of the woods, Gajeel and Lily marched their way to a nearby town where their mission was. Gajeel had a smug look on his face as he thought back of the reaction Levy gave him when he gave her a mischievous look. Lily has been wondering what the slayer had in his mind and decided to start a conversation.<p>

"Is there a reason why you have that smug painted on your face?" Lily asked.

"Gihi," he laughed, "should've seen the shrimp's reaction. Bet she's having a bit of a fit right about now."

"All right, Gajeel." Lily interrupted, "Just what are you planning to do to her?"

"Eh?" he grunted, "What the hell do you mean, cat?"

"It's obvious you're planning something to do with her."

"Would you believe me if I said that I really wasn't planning anything?" Gajeel mocked.

"Obviosly, no." Lily groaned, "Spit it out, Gajeel. I feel left behind on this."

Gajeel just smirked at his cat, "I'm serious Lil'. I really don't know what to expect."

Lily rolled his eyes toward the slayer, deciding whether to believe him or not. "So why look at her like she's prey." he assured.

"I just did that to mess with her." He replied back proudly with a grin, "It'll give the shrimp something to think about."

Lily just shook his head at the slayer's response, "I'm warning you Gajeel." He said in a worried tone, "You're playing with her emotions on a thin thread."

"Tch," he huffed, "I meant nothing by it. She's my future mate and, damn, whether she can cook or not, I'll love her just as much as I love her now. Cooking is just an added bonus, Gihi!"

Lily felt somewhat relieved but more so proud of the slayer's word. But then again, Gajeel can be unpredictable and relationship was something new to him. As they continued to march through the woods, the town slowly came into view.

"Come on." Gajeel grunted, "The quicker we get this done, the quicker I can get back home."

* * *

><p>After many trials and error, Levy thinks that she's getting better in the art of cooking. As the guild slowly filled with people, Mira took order of drinks but Levy had to deal with food as promised. To test her current abilities, Jet and Droy greeted their beloved leader of Team Shadow Gear to learn that she was handling kitchen utensils instead of a book.<p>

"Whoa!" Jet gasped.

"Levy?!" Droy joined in after.

"Hi guys!" Levy greeted, "Are you two hungry? I'm making food for the guild today!"

"Our Levy!" Jet squealed, "Our Levy-chan is cooking, Droy!"

"It's amazing!" Droy replied back, "When we're you going to tell us?"

"Oh I just started, really." Levy assured, "Mira is letting me use the guild kitchen to practice."

"Well," Jet said, "Can we have something to eat?"

"Of course!" she agreed, "You two will be my first costumers! I will be back shortly!"

Jet and Droy smiled happily that they were going to be the first two to try out Levy's cooking. They watched her from behind the bar stand as she peeled and cooked shrimp with added spice with the rice cooking in a different pot. They did however notice her having a bit of hesitation of which spices to use and when to put the fire out, but they strongly believed that whatever she will cook up with will taste amazing.

After slowly and delicately placing rice and shrimp on to two plates, she grabbed the plates and set them in front of the bar stand facing towards Jet and Droy. Levy smiled and told them to enjoy the food and without hestitation, they quickly gobbled up their breakfast. It wasn't until when the food was finished half way that they noticed that there was something wrong with it. Their happy smiles faltered a little and their chewing mouths come to a slow halt.

Levy tiled her head at their reaction, "What's wrong guys?" she asked, "Is it not good?"

Afraid to hurt her feelings and to say no, they both swallowed the food that they gathered in their mouths and cringed a little from the slight bitter spicy flavor.

"It's good Levy!" Jet lied.

"Yeah." Droy groaned, "Really… good!"

"Thank you." Levy smiled, "Eat up now!"

Levy hummed happily as she went to Mira to tell her how Jet and Droy seems to enjoy their food. Jet grabbed both their plates and used his speed magic to quickly throw half the content in the trash and return back with an empty plate while putting a fake face of satisfaction. Droy followed his lead and looked towards Levy who was still talking to Mira. He was sweating excessively and feeling his mouth and cheeks heat up.

"Droy?" Jet called.

"Levy put too much spice on mine…" he groaned, "and my shrimp was undercooked."

"Oh…" Jet sighed, "Mine was over cooked, but my rice was undercooked. I think she accidentally used bitter melon seeds for her seasonings."

Levy returned back to the bar stand causing both of the men to jump.

"Wow, you guys ate that quick!" Levy smiled.

Jet and Droy laughed and thanked her for the food and made their way into bathroom to relieve their now upset stomach. Levy simply looked at them confusingly but shrugged it off. It wasn't long until she got her next set of orders and, soon, Erza came up to the bar smiling down at Levy.

"Good afternoon, Erza!" Levy greeted.

"Ah, Levy. I see you're taking the way to culinary arts very seriously." She smiled, "No doubt, that you will make a fine cook someday if you keep this up."

"Thank you!" Levy giggled, "I'm happy that I'm actually learning how to cook."

"Well, if I may ask, I want to test your skills as of now." Erza challenged, "I've been missing out and I would like to try some of your cooking. We'll compare later once I have my chance to cook."

"Of course, Erza! Right away!" Levy skipped to the kitchen and quickly prepared the usually serving she gave to most of the guild members already.

Erza examined the guild while she waited for her food. She raised a brow to those that looked…sick…and to those that are impatiently waiting in line that started towards the guild bathrooms. She saw Natsu and Gray butting heads together as they clutched tightly at their stomach. She merely shook her head and thought they fought on a full stomach and was now suffering from the aches. She didn't decided to stop them as they were now already in pain and suffering in line, it was a punishment well deserved.

After a few minutes, Levy had put down the food she prepared for her. Erza twisted her fork eagerly before stabbing her plate and took a bite of fried shrimp and rice. Her face was calm and in about three bites of food from the plate, she was beginning to understand why there was a line in the guild bathroom. She simply kept on chewing and her stomach could not take more torture at about half away done with the plate.

"Well?" Levy asked, "How is it?"

Erza chewed a bit more sternly and kept a calm expression, "It is quite potent." She said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" she said.

"The unique flavors in your food can bring a dark guild down to their knees. Quite effective, I must say" Erza replied.

"Is that a good thing?"

Erza sighed, "In way…it is."

"Isn't she great!" Mira joined, "She's been getting a lot of compliments lately and with no help from magic too! I'm such a great teacher!"

Erza popped a vein on her forehead, "Well… that explains a lot then. I'm afraid I ate earlier and I cannot finish the rest of this plate. Thank you for the food, Levy. Please, excuse me."

"No problem!" Levy sang, "Glad you liked it."

Erza stood tall and wiped her mouth with a piece of handkerchief as she made her way into the line for the women's restroom. She spotted Lucy and Juvia sitting against the wall, with their knees pulled close to their torso as they groaned in pain while they rest their heads on their knees. Eventually the pain got to her but fought off the urge to simply crawl in a hole and cry until she spotted the master sitting against the wall from the men's restroom side with an angry expression on his face.

"You are not to tell Levy about her dangerous cooking…" Makarov said, "She's doing this for a certain dragon slayer that needs to suffer along with the rest of the guild."

"Understood, master." Erza replied, "To think that Levy could take most of the guild down…"

"She managed to take the guild master down" he interrupted, "If this wasn't an S class trial, I would've given her the title of an S class mage for taking most of the members here already."

Erza smiled before finally giving in to the painful stomach ache and joined Lucy and Juvia in their suffering. And during the time of their torture to the bathroom, they grew a new kind of hatred towards the iron dragon slayer for making their beloved and sweet scholar into a fearful cook. They waited for him to return to face the same consequences.


End file.
